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Sunday, July 25, 2010

This is the 24th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

Minnesota Digital Library - http://www.mndigital.org/collections/ - this is a collaborative effort with a mega-search engine for digital collections available from Minnesota universities, libraries, historical societies and museums

Minnesota Historical Society - http://www.mnhs.org/index.htm - What's not to like? It's hard to find a page on this site that doesn't have some amazing information about your Minnesota ancestors. I recommend using the following tabs at the top of the page to start out your searches: Family History, People, Places, and Collections. Included in these are birth and death certificate indexes, state censuses indexes for 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905, online maps, newspaper collections, veterans graves indexes, Minnesota History index, Governors of Minnesota, Christie Civil War Letters, Chinese-Americans, Building and House History, Author Biographies, Minnesota Photographers directory and much, much more!

Gustavus Adolphus College - College and Lutheran Church Archives - http://gustavus.edu/library/archives/ - while there is not much data on this site (includes WWI posters and the Gustavian Weekly, 1979-2005), it is a necessary stop if you had Lutheran ancestors because of the finding aids, biographical index, and a microfilm index of church records.

Minnesota State University Mankato - University Archives and Southern Minnesota Historical Center - http://lib.mnsu.edu/archives/ - of main interest are the digital collections (MSU photo collection) and the obituary index

Minnesota State University Moorhead - Livingston Lord Library Northwest Minnesota Historical Center - http://www.mnstate.edu/archives/NorthwestMN/ - along with Minnesota and Red River Valley history, this site provides exhibits and online guides to their many collections

St. Catherine University Digital Collections - http://images.stkate.edu/ - drawings, writings, fine art and photograph collections; also links to digital scans of their publications: The Catherine Wheel, Pot Pourri, The Magret, and Ariston.

Hennepin County Library Special Collections - http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/specialcollections/ - from this page, you can access the Minneapolis Collection (covers all aspects of the city’s history and includes books, photographs, high school yearbooks, archival and manuscript collections, periodicals, maps, and thousands of files of newspaper clippings - not all online) as well as Digital Resources (photos, oral history interviews, WWII Posters, the Seth Eastman Sketchbook) and a list of local historical societies

Joint Archives of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society (GNRHS) and Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association (NPRHA) - http://www.gn-npjointarchive.org/default.aspx - digital archives of station plats (all along the railroad, not just in Minnesota!), structure drawings, bridges, depots, photos, drawings, charts, and maps, rosters, and more! A must-visit site if you have railroad employee ancestors!

Wayzata Historical Society - http://www.wayzatahistoricalsociety.org/ - check out the timeline under the Photos tab! What a great educational resource! There are historical and "mystery" photos, an architectural survey, and newsletters.